This invention pertains to an interactive transmission system and more particularly to an interactive transmission system of a type in which a general transmission of signals is provided in a manner adapted to be received by a plurality of television receivers at viewing stations while means at the viewing stations permits the viewer to respond to the information transmitted and also to register a telephoned report at an associated one of a plurality of locations, such as stores. This invention is particularly useful in providing an interactive purchasing system in which shopping can be conducted in a bi-directional manner based on the selection of merchandise displayed at a video viewing station and entry of a purchase order by telephone from the viewing station.
Heretofore interactive arrangments have been provided in which, for example, a subscriber can dial a given broadcasting station. The station will then select and address an appropriate predetermined program of information to be transmitted to the particular subscriber.
According to another arrangment a so-called "electronic newspaper" has been provided wherein there is a continuous broadcast of inforation and the customer can, at his viewing end, "flip" through the "pages" broadcast at a desired rate.
According to a further arrangement, the viewer can, using a decoder and key pad, select a page of text as desired. A decoder memory or shift register is employed to store the digitized pages being broadcast. At that point the pages are cycled at a rate on the order of 0.25 seconds per page.
As disclosed herein, a system is provided in which a unit can be attached to a commercial television receiver and simply coupled to a telephone to dial one of a number of telephone numbers and place a purchase order in response to selecting an item of merchandise at the viewing station. The dialed store provides an audio response via the telephone as well as a recordation of the purchase for the records of the store.
The called store identifies the calling party by means of a code transmitted as a preamble to the buying information. The code contains the credit card number and telephone number of the caller. The caller has a row of pre-set thumbwheel switches at his unit with this information. The computer at the called station is of a type which can perform a credit check on the caller by means of the credit card number. This number also gives the computer access to the name and billing address of the caller.